FIPC Research: Falls and fracture - Queensland Stay On Your Feet®
The aim of this study was to establish whether specific incident-related characteristics (demographic, spatial, temporal, functional and activity variables) predisposed certain falls to result in fractures. This retrospective cohort study identified a number of significant fall-related fracture predictors. Overall, there are divergent risk factors for hospital and residential aged care. Both settings falls from a higher position (e.g. standing) had high fracture risk.
For hospitalised patients males were three times likely to fracture and there was a higher fracture risk for those aged over 80. If patients were screened and assessed for falls risk they were half as likely to sustain a fracture.